Comforting Thoughts About Death That Have Nothing to Do with God

"In this book Greta Christina tackles the subject of death with the insight of a philosopher and the relaxed candor of a friend — that really cool, intelligent friend who understands and cares."
-David Niose, author of Fighting Back the Right: Reclaiming America from the Attack on Reason

Comforting Thoughts About Death That Have Nothing to Do with God by Greta Christina -- available now!

Coming Out Atheist

“"Witty, wise, helpful, and humane, this clear and engaging book is most timely.”
-Phil Zuckerman, Ph.D., author of Faith No More: Why People Reject Religion

Coming Out Atheist: How to Do It, How to Help Each Other, and Why by Greta Christina -- available now in ebook, print, and audiobook!

I Support Atheism Plus!

Atheists plus we care about social justice.
Atheists plus we support women’s rights.
Atheists plus we protest racism.
Atheists plus we fight homophobia and transphobia.
Atheists plus we use critical thinking and skepticism.

EVENTS

I have my archives from my old blog! They’re here! With comments and everything! They’re even in the right categories!

Images and videos didn’t make it over, and there are a handful of posts that didn’t make it and that I’ll have to put in by hand. (For some reason, it didn’t like my posts about alternative medicine, speaking at Stanford, making atheism a safe place to land, atheists having morality, and my recipe for chocolate pie. Make of that what you will.) But I can live with that. The archives are here. Years of my old work — all finally in one place. This has been driving me up a tree, and I can now finally relax about it. (A little.)

If you want to see them, scroll down in the sidebar to where it says “Recent Posts/ Comments/ Archives.” Click Archives. There they are! You can also search for posts in the archives with the handy Search box at the top right of the blog. Which works waaaay better than the search box at my old blog.

When I’m back from my Minnesota trip, I’m going to start working on (a) getting the old blog to redirect to the new one, and (b) getting the best and hottest posts listed in my sidebar, so newcomers to the blog can browse them more easily. And I’ll probably start linking to the cool stuff from the archives, so newcomers to this blog can become familiar with it. For now, I’m just going to sit back and cry tears of happiness and relief. I can haz archives! Yay!

I have to express my intense gratitude to fellow Freethought Blogger Jason Thibeault, at Lousy Canuck, for making this happen. Don’t ever let anyone tell you that atheists have no sense of community or compassion. I owe him big time. Go visit his blog, and tell him Thank You.

Today’s Atheist Meme of the Day. Pass this on; or don’t; or edit it as you see fit; or make up your own. Enjoy!

Atheist activism is not a waste of time. Rates of non-belief are going up at an astonishing rate, around the country and around the world. In fact, in every state in the U.S., the fastest-growing religious affiliation is “none.” Those of us trying to get atheist ideas out into the world are clearly doing something right. Pass it on: if we say it enough times to enough people, it may get across.

Today’s Atheist Meme of the Day. Pass this on; or don’t; or edit it as you see fit; or make up your own. Enjoy!

Religion is an idea about how the world works — and it’s just as valid to criticize it in public forums as it is to criticize any other idea. If you think it’s okay to criticize ideas about politics, science, medicine, art, philosophy, food, and so on… why should religion be treated any differently? Pass it on: if we say it enough times to enough people, it may get across.

Today’s Atheist Meme of the Day. Pass this on; or don’t; or edit it as you see fit; or make up your own. Enjoy!

Criticizing religion is not the same as “lumping all religions together.” Most atheists understand that different religions are different, and that some do more harm than others. We still don’t think any of them are right. Pass it on: if we say it enough times to enough people, it may get across.

Today’s Atheist Meme of the Day. Pass this on; or don’t; or edit it as you see fit; or make up your own. Enjoy!

Atheists do not have a God-shaped hole in our hearts. People evolved to yearn: to explore, to be curious, to search for more than what we already experience and know. We don’t have a God-shaped hole in our hearts — we have a hole-shaped hole in our hearts. Pass it on: if we say it enough times to enough people, it may get across.

Today’s Atheist Meme of the Day. Pass this on; or don’t; or edit it as you see fit; or make up your own. Enjoy!

“You’d believe if you just opened your heart” is a terrible argument for religion. It’s basically saying, “If you bias yourself enough, you can convince yourself that this is true.” If religion were true, people wouldn’t need faith to believe it — it would be supported by good evidence. Pass it on: if we say it enough times to enough people, it may get across.

Today’s Atheist Meme of the Day. Pass this on; or don’t; or edit it as you see fit; or make up your own. Enjoy!

Atheism does have comfort to offer in the face of death. Among other things, it offers the idea that a finite life can be seen as more valuable, not less: that the impermanence of life can inspire us to see it as precious, and to savor it and treasure it as much as we possibly can. Pass it on: if we say it enough times to enough people, it may get across.

Today’s Atheist Meme of the Day. Pass this on; or don’t; or edit it as you see fit; or make up your own. Enjoy!

Religion is not necessary for a happy, meaningful, good life filled with community and connection. Most atheists experience great joy and purpose in our lives, and care deeply about right and wrong. And the atheist community is blossoming more and more every day. Pass it on: if we say it enough times to enough people, it may get across.

Today’s Atheist Meme of the Day. Pass this on; or don’t; or edit it as you see fit; or make up your own. Enjoy!

Atheists care what other people believe because people act on their beliefs. Religious beliefs affect how people treat both others and themselves — and many atheists see that effect as doing more harm than good. If you disagree, then make that case — but it’s not fair to object to the very idea of atheists making our case as well. Pass it on: if we say it enough times to enough people, it may get across.

Today’s Atheist Meme of the Day. Pass this on; or don’t; or edit it as you see fit; or make up your own. Enjoy!

Attempts to persuade people out of religion are not a waste of time. Rates of atheism are going up at an astonishing rate, all over the U.S. and around the world. And many atheists say that they were, at least in part, persuaded out of their beliefs by atheists’ arguments against religion. Pass it on: if we say it enough times to enough people, it may get across.